Zoe and I were sitting together in her room tonight, as we often do in the evenings, when she suddenly stood up, said “Mom-mee,” and leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek. It wasn’t the first time she said my name (of course), nor the first time she gave me a kiss. But it was the first time that she ever offered up a kiss on her own – without being asked for one. (“Can I have a kissie?” we usually say to her.) It was just so affectionate and sweet and out of the blue. And it just about broke my heart – in a good way.

-M

Zoe and I drove Q to the airport early this morning, and Zoe was quite sad as we bid him good-bye. Her big tears reminded me just how much of a daddy’s girl she is; at this point in her life, he’s pretty much the most important person in the world. She gets so excited when she hears him coming home in the evenings, and when they’re together she constantly crawls over to him and puts her arms out for a pick-up and hug. Seeing the two of them together makes me smile, and the picture below (taken last night) is a new fave of mine.

-M

In honor of Angela’s visit, the four of us took a little road trip to Napa this weekend. Zoe didn’t get to taste any wine, of course, but she did do lots of exploring – both at our hotel and at various wineries – and she ate tons of crackers. Here are a few pics.

-M

“This is so much fun, Daddy!”

“Hi there.”

“There are fish in there!”

“Boo-hoo… I didn’t get any wine!”

“I have a cracker, so I’m happy now.”

“Ooh, more candles?”

Another fun week for Zoe. She’s been lighting Hanukkah candles and opening presents each night, and then late yesterday Zia Angela arrived from Wisconsin for a visit. Oh, and a few minutes after our last post, Zoe took another few steps forward. Since she did so on her own – and without prompting – I think it’s safe to call this her first walk!

A few recent pictures from the holiday…

-M

“Can we light this?”

“I’m not sure how I feel about this present.”

“Ooh, what’s that?!”

“Those candles are mesmerizing.”

On the first night of Hanukkah last year, Zoe was so small she couldn’t even hold her head up. Not so this year, when Zoe was an active participant in the candle-lighting. Here she is with her dad last night.

-M

When we need to get some work done on the computer, we often plunk Zoe down in her room (adjacent to the computer room) for a little playtime. She usually has no problem entertaining herself, and it doesn’t take long for her to find and fling every book, stuffed animal and toy in the room. I thought it would be fun to show a recent picture of the aftermath. (In case you can’t tell, that’s her next to the crib.)

-M

It’s only been a few days since we’ve last written, but Zoe is busy doing things we haven’t talked about here. She now says “hi” repeatedly, and she recently started singing/humming (“da da da da”) to herself. She also took a few (very) baby steps on Sat.; she still prefers to cruise, but I think she’s starting to realize that she doesn’t need furniture (or people) to get around.

We’ll keep you updated on other developments. For now, here are a few pics from this past weekend.

-M